Document text
48 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, January 27, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend December 31, 2004 Tom Scott holds an example of art he�s collected from schoolchildren as part of an international exchange he organized. This work came from Indonesia. Students� art will be displayed in the Jackson County Central Library in January. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Art exchange draws world’s kids together By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Tom Scott, the father of a 6-year-old who loves art, believes that children’s creativity can provide a link of understanding around the world. He’s organized what he calls A Global Day of Peace art exchange that has sent paintings and drawings from local schools to 15 countries. Students in other countries have sent their art here. Nearly 200 pieces of the international students’ art will be displayed in the children’s section of the Jackson County Central Library, 205 S. Central Ave., Medford, through January. "Art is a way to organize, a way for kids to do something together," said Scott, who lives outside Jacksonville. He said the idea for an art exchange came to him in a dream last spring. Advertisement "It feels like I’m appointed," he said. Students at Sacred Heart Catholic School, where Scott’s daughter, Madelyn, attended pre-kindergarten, were the first local kids to make art for the exchange, he said. Nearly a dozen Rogue Valley schools, both public and private, have agreed to produce art for the exchange, and Scott wants to add new participants through the end of this school year. Students, who range in age from 6 to 18, are encouraged to create art that reflects their area, interests and culture. Scott contacted sister city organizations throughout the Northwest to connect with art classes around the world. The first swap was accomplished with students in Suzhou, China, Portland’s sister city. He then contacted international schools in various countries and tapped a Web site, ePals.com, which strives to link classrooms worldwide. Scott pays to ship the local art abroad and the receiving schools display it as they wish. He also receives art that foreign schools submit. "The kids and teachers are excited to do this, but I’m the most excited of all," he said. "I get to open the stuff that comes in the mail." He plans to hang the children’s art at the library Monday. He displayed a smaller selection there in September and it was well received, said Patt Colwell, supervisor of the children’s department at the library. "Kids and parents liked to see what kids in other countries do," she said. The art also has been shown at participating schools and at libraries in Ashland and Jacksonville. A picture from Indonesia will be displayed at Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s office in February and Scott hopes to present a picture to the mayor of Ashland. When the library display ends, he will send the art on for shows in other participating countries, including Egypt, China and Jamaica. When the traveling exhibit returns to Medford this summer, Scott wants to have a fund-raiser, in which people could have a piece of art in exchange for a donation to the Mother of Peace Orphanage in Mutoko, Zimbabwe. Scott said he initially was unsure what to do with all the international art he gathered through the exchange, but Madelyn suggested selling it. He liked the idea of using children’s art to raise money to help kids. After a round of Internet research, he picked the African orphanage, which is sponsored by a church in Oakland, Calif. He’s still working out the details of the fund-raiser. For additional information on the art exchange, call Scott at 899-6928. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers